Page 303 of Playing Dirty
Longer this time.
Mason:
I don’t like uncertainty right now.
That felt heavierthan it should’ve.
MASON
I shouldn’t have sent that last message.
But something about Coach, Luca, my dad, everything—it was stacking too much.
Rowan replied after a while.
Rowan:
Nobody does.
I leaned against the hallway wall outside the locker room.
People passed by talking, laughing, moving on with their day like everything was normal.
Mine didn’t feel normal.
Not lately.
My phone buzzed again.
Rowan:
You okay?
That question again.
Simple.
Dangerous.
I stared at it for a long time before answering.
Mason:
Yeah.
Then paused.
Deleted it.
Typed again.
Mason:
Not really.
Sent.
And for some reason, that felt like the first honest thing I’d said all day.
